Healing Touch
by PhaiFan
Summary: Sometimes a little TLC is all that is needed (just some short, silly fluff to get me back on track...I've missed the guys)


The battle had been a tough one, but they had…of course…been victorious. Fortunately, casualties had been light. The men were tired, hot, dirty, and hungry.

Alexander stumbled into his tent, smelling of sweat, blood, horse dung, and a few things worse than that. All he wanted was a warm bath, clean clothes, a decent meal and some good wine.

His attendants drew him a bath, which he sank into with a huge sigh. He leaned back against the side of the tub, submerged to his chin in the warm, soothing water, letting it wash the stench of war from his skin and relax the tension of his sore muscles. He had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing major.

After dressing in a clean robe and silk trousers, he decided to head over to the dining tent to share a meal with his men. He stopped to visit with the wounded first, making a point to speak to as many of them as possible, thanking them for their valiant efforts and congratulating them on their hard-won victory. Morale was pretty good at the moment, and he intended to keep it that way.

Flanked by a couple guards, he entered the tent to find most of his generals already present and having their meal. Upon seeing him enter, they shouted their greetings to him, lifting their cups in a salute to their victory and to the king they loved. He smiled, a deep sense of pride filling him.

"Gentlemen! It has been a long and tiring day. Let us enjoy ourselves. Eat, drink, and then let us get some much needed rest. We will stay here a couple days before we set out again."

He helped himself to a large plate of food and settled himself on a cushion, looking around at the men he was so proud of. It made him smile to see them relaxed and enjoying themselves, reliving the battle with huge smiles on their faces. Glancing around, he noticed that one of his generals was missing. Where was Hephaestion, he wondered?

"Ptolemy, have you seen Hephaestion?" Alexander asked.

Ptolemy shook his head. "No, not since we got back into camp. The last time I saw him he was in with the wounded talking to some of his men and trying to convince the doctor that he didn't need any attention himself."

Alexander felt alarmed. "Was he hurt?"

Perdiccas was sitting next to Ptolemy and heard their conversation. "I don't know, Alexander. He was limping a bit but I don't think it was anything too serious. Doctor Philip kept trying to take a look at him, but Hephaestion kept waving him off."

Alexander frowned. Hephaestion had a habit of not taking care of himself when he was hurt, putting the needs of everyone else first. An admirable quality, but not always a smart one. He decided he needed to go and find the stubborn general.

After finishing his meal and draining the last of the wine from his cup, he stood. "Gentlemen, I take my leave of you. I'm going to go and check on Hephaestion. Health to you all."

He spoke briefly with Doctor Philip who assured him that while Hephaestion had taken quite a beating, it was nothing life threatening and that all he needed was some time to heal. He said he had sent Hephaestion back to his tent with orders to rest.

Rest? Ha! Alexander gave an undignified snort. Hephaestion was as likely to rest as swine were to sprout wings. No, he would probably have to order Hephaestion to rest if was to happen at all, and he knew even then it would be a battle. Hephaestion was just about the only one who would seriously argue with him when given an order he didn't agree with. He chuckled softly, shaking his head as he walked towards Hephaestion's tent. Hephaestion…the man was as stubborn as a mule at times.

He had a pretty good idea what he would find when he arrived. Of all the things he could find, rest is the last thing he would expect Hephaestion to be doing.

Upon reaching Hephaestion's tent, he dismissed his own guards as Hephaestion's guards stepped aside to let him enter. He gave them orders that they were not to be disturbed.

As he entered the inner room of the tent, he shook his head and sighed in frustration. It was just as he suspected. Hephaestion was seated at his desk surrounded by piles of paperwork. Hephaestion was not looking at them, however. He was slumped over the desk with his head down on his folded arms.

"Hephaestion…" he began.

Hephaestion jerked his head up, having not heard Alexander enter. Highly unusual for the ever-vigilant general, to be sure. He straightened himself quickly. "Alexander! I apologize…I did not hear you come in!" He started to rise, but was stopped by Alexander's hand motioning for him to remain seated.

"Hephaestion, what in Hades are you doing?"

"I am working, Alexander! I need to update our inventory and the troop census after our battle today. I need to make sure we are prepared when we set out again."

Alexander sighed. "Didn't Doctor Philip instruct you to rest?"

Hephaestion smiled sheepishly. "Perhaps…I did take a bath and eat a little bit." He got a determined look on his face. "Honestly, Alexander! I am fine! I really need to get these things done. I promise I will rest afterwards!"

Alexander didn't believe him for a moment. "Hephaestion Amyntoros! You are a terrible liar. I know perfectly well you will not rest after you finish this. You will find some other project that you think cannot wait. I know you too well, my love."

"But…" he began.

"But nothing!" Alexander interrupted. "As your King, I order you to stop what you are doing and do as your doctor tells you!"

Hephaestion opened his mouth to argue, but stopped himself, lowering his head and looking down in defeat. Truth be told, he hurt like hell from top to bottom. He had gotten into several hand-to-hand skirmishes after being thrown from his horse. He had a couple cuts he had finally allowed the doctor to stitch up, and was generally battered and bruised all over. "Fine" he grumbled. "You win."

Alexander was stunned. Hephaestion never gave in that easily. That concerned him a great deal. Hephaestion must really be suffering if he gave up without a fight. He walked over and put a hand on Hephaestion's shoulder, squeezing gently. "Come on, Hephaestion, let's get you settled in."

Hephaestion let out a yelp and jerked away from Alexander's touch. "Ouch, Alexander!"

Alexander pulled his hand back quickly. "What, Hephaestion? What is wrong?"

Hephaestion released the pin on the shoulder of his chiton, revealing a large bruise that covered part of his shoulder and collar bone.

Alexander gasped. It looked very painful, and apparently was. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." He reached out for Hephaestion's hand, but Hephaestion jerked that away from him with a sharp intake of breath. "What?" Alexander asked. "What is wrong now?"

Hephaestion raised his hand and showed it to Alexander. There was a bandage around the back of his hand where it had been badly scraped on a rock when he had been knocked to the ground briefly during one of the fights.

Alexander frowned and moved his hand up to Hephaestion's bicep. Hephaestion once again jerked away from him with a hiss, closing his eyes tightly. "Oh, Hephaestion…what else?"

Hephaestion turned to the side so Alexander could see his arm. There was a neat row of stitches on his upper arm where the doctor had sewn up a deep gash from a sword. "It hurts like Hades, Alexander."

"By the Gods, Hephaestion! Is there no part of you that is not injured? Is there anything I can touch that won't hurt you?"

Hephaestion thought for a moment. He touched a finger to the tip of his nose. "Here, this doesn't hurt."

Alexander leaned forward and pressed a tiny kiss on the tip of Hephaestion's nose. "Where else?"

Hephaestion pointed to his forehead. "Here"

Alexander gently kissed his forehead.

"And here" Hephaestion said, pointing to his chin.

Alexander tenderly kissed Hephaestion's chin.

Hephaestion touched his finger to one corner of his mouth. The other side had a cut on his lower lip. "Right here" he said.

Alexander placed a very gentle kiss on the corner of Hephaestion's mouth.

Hephaestion stepped back and lay down on the bed. He looked at Alexander for a moment, then pointed to his belly button. "Here"

Alexander bit back a smile before leaning over and planting an open mouthed kiss on Hephaestion's smooth belly, flicking his tongue into his belly button. He heard Hephaestion chuckle softly. He looked up at Hephaestion, cocking an eyebrow. "Any place else?"

Hephaestion sat up on the bed and touched his knee. "This one doesn't hurt" he said, pointing to his right knee. The left one was bandaged tightly.

Alexander kissed Hephaestion's knee and waited.

"And here…" Hephaestion pointed to the inside of his right thigh, trailing his finger upwards slightly.

Alexander grinned. He liked where this was going. Another open mouthed kiss was placed on the silky skin of Hephaestion's inner thigh. He looked up, smiling as he noticed that certain other parts of the general seemed to be responding quite nicely to his healing kisses. He ran his hand up the inside of Hephaestion's thigh until his fingers curled over his obvious arousal. "And this, Hephaestion?"

"Mmmm…I think that actually does ache a little. Perhaps you could kiss it and make it better?" He tried to look innocent, but failed miserably. His eyes danced with mischief.

"Oh Hephaestion…what am I to do with you?" Alexander laughed softly, and then proceeded to take care of Hephaestion's little "problem" with eager lips and tongue.

When Hephaestion's breathing returned to normal, he sat up and smiled widely at Alexander, who shook his head. "Hephaestion, you are most devious. You manipulated me perfectly. I trust you are better now?"

Hephaestion grinned. "I am!" He licked his lips and looked Alexander up and down. "So, tell me Alexander…is there anything of yours that needs attention?"

Alexander quickly stripped off his clothing and lay down beside Hephaestion, smiling and trailing a finger down his belly. "As a matter of fact…"

Oh, the power of a healing touch. Sometimes a kiss is truly all it takes to make it all better.


End file.
